The forces resulting in the transport of a vehicle in the environment of the surface of the earth, on roadways or over moderate terrain are most often generated by friction of driven wheels against the surface being traversed. In other environments, such as water or air, the forces are most often developed by the pulling or pushing forces generated either by propellers or the forces generated by expelling fluid material through pumps or jets in the direction opposite to the desired direction of travel of the vehicle to be moved.
In the environment of space, the first mechanism of transport, which involves the friction of driven wheels against a stationary surface, is not possible, however; there is no surface on which driven wheels can operate. The second mechanism, expelling material, most often requires the expulsion of reaction mass in the direction opposite the desired direction of travel of the vehicle, i.e., conventional rocketry.
Alternative methods of transport of a vehicle in a space environment have been explored and documented in several patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,319, issued on Sep. 30, 1986 to Kim E. Drexler for SOLAR SAIL, proposes a solar sail system for generating transport forces by intercepting light pressure, and teaches the mechanism for constructing such a system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,971, issued on Dec. 30, 1986 to Brandson R. Thornson for APPARATUS FOR DEVELOPING A PROPULSION FORCE, proposes an apparatus for generating transport forces without the use of projection of material in the direction opposite the desired direction of travel. This technique teaches the use of electromagnetic restraint to provide a whip-like action inducing a resultant force in a direction perpendicular to the plane containing the axes of rotating wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,851, issued on May 24, 1994 to Harold L. Hull et al. for REUSABLE MASS PROPULSION SYSTEM, proposes the use of rotational motion to accelerate masses in desired directions, and uses the combination of elastic members and damping members to provide momentum in the desired direction, without necessitating the opposite projection of particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,134, issued on Jul. 21, 1998 to James D. Booden for ELECTROMAGNETICALLY ACTUATED THRUST GENERATOR, proposes the use of electromagnetically operated rotatable elements to produce an imbalance in rotational forces resulting in forces in a desired direction without expulsion of reaction mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,400, issued on Apr. 6, 1999 to Ross A. Oades for APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A PROPULSION FORCE, proposes the use of movable weights mounted on a rotating flywheel, and the displacement of the weights relative to the axis of rotation of the flywheel to generate unidirectional forces providing propulsive force in a given direction without the ejection of reaction mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,986, issued on Oct. 19, 1999 to Virgil Rickard Laul for PROPULSION SYSTEM, proposes the use of the eccentric motion produced by the rotation of an unbalanced weight, together with a mechanism allowing the weights to reciprocate and transfer momentum to the combined system, resulting in motion in the desired direction without expelling matter to the external environment.
The review of prior art has disclosed the systems listed above, which share a common element in that they operate without the expulsion of reaction mass to achieve forces resulting in transport in the desired direction. None of the references teach the use of counter-rotating flywheels to construct a torque platform whose resistance to change in angular momentum can be used to rotate a vehicle in space, nor do they disclose the other inventive concepts of the present invention.